We have been running LinkedIn ads for client accounts for some time now, and from our experience the platform works very differently from Meta or Google.
To answer Evelines' question on budget - for testing, LinkedIn generally requires at least $50-100/day to get meaningful data because of how their auction works. Minimum daily budget is $10, but you won't get enough impressions to make decisions at that level. We recommend starting with $50/day for at least 2 weeks before judging results.
On the broader question of whether ads work: they do, but only for specific use cases. What has worked for us:
- Lead gen forms (native LinkedIn forms) for B2B services, software demos, and webinar sign-ups
- Sponsored InMail (Message Ads) for high-ticket offers where personalisation matters
- Thought leadership ads targeting specific job titles
What does not work well on LinkedIn ads: direct product sales, affiliate offers, anything priced under $200. The CPCs are too high ($5-15 range) to make low-ticket offers profitable.
The organic + DM funnel approach that others mentioned is more practical for most use cases here. But if you are offering a B2B service or SaaS, LinkedIn ads can drive qualified leads that are hard to get on other platforms.